Samsung Galaxy S7 has been stealing the show in the recent past and it has been happening in what can be termed as Apple’s strongholds.
Apple’s iPhone 7 is months away from release, yet the company’s reports indicate that iPhone sales have declined, especially in Q1 2016 where Samsung has topped the charts. This has led to speculations that the upcoming iPhone 7 will be huge as Cupertino looks to redeem itself from the current poor run. But before this flagship comes into play, we have the iPhone 6S as the current flagship of choice.
So, the question is – will Samsung Galaxy S7 be the Android device that ultimately tempts iPhone users to make the switch to the most popular mobile platform in the world?
Design and display
When compared to their predecessors, both the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6S have very small differences. However, if light and slim are high on your list, you should go for the iPhone 6S. The phone is made of an aluminum alloy unibody that features curved edges with a protruding rear snapper and visible antenna bands. On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S7 comes with a combination of metal and glass with the back slightly curved to make it easy and comfortable to hold in one hand. The camera bump is almost flush but still noticeable. The S7 also adds IP68 water and dust resistance, something that it not available on the 6S.
While the two have very negligible differences in terms of size and weight, the Galaxy S7 has a significantly larger display screen than the iPhone 6S. The former comes with a 5.1-inch panel while the latter has 4.7 inches. The differences don’t end there. You get a Super AMOLED QHD panel with 577ppi pixel density and an Always on feature that allows you to always see information like date, time and notifications even when the S7’s display has gone into sleep mode.
As for the iPhone 6S, you will come across an LCD panel that only manages 326ppi of pixel density. While there is no doubt that this display is still sharp, it is nowhere near the sharpness you get on the Galaxy S7. Despite having a low-par display panel, the iPhone 6S comes with 3D Touch pressure sensitive feature that brings new ways of interacting or rather navigating the phone.
Hardware specs
Samsung Galaxy S7 is the newer of the two phones, hence it packs the newest flagship chipset in the Android world in the shape of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC. However, this is only for the U.S. variant. As for other regions, there is an Exynos 8890 SoC – but both configurations are coupled with a RAM of 4GB.
This is undoubtedly higher than what you get on the iPhone 6S, which runs on last year’s A9 SoC and is supported by a RAM of 2GB. Numerous benchmarking tests have been carried out regarding these three chipsets, with the Snapdragon 820 SoC ending up on top on most occasions. However, there are some areas where the 6S still came out on top.
Despite the tests, it all comes down to real-world performance. This will usually go down differently depending on the tasks at hand, however, the S7 might feel a little taxed when playing certain games as compared to the 6S. While this might seem hardware related, experts claim that it has everything to do with optimization of apps. This is where Apple’s iPhone 6S wins the battle as developers seem to give more attention to the Apple Store as compared to the Play Store. In addition, the huge number of Android OEMs that come in with different phones that pack different hardware configurations makes it hard for developers to optimize their apps for each of these combinations, something that Apple developers enjoy due to the fact that there is only one OEM to deal with.
Other things you get on both phones are Bluetooth 4.2, dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS as well as NFC. However, the NFC chip inside the iPhone 6S can only be used with Apple Pay. On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S7 supports both Android Pay and Samsung Pay. You will get non-removable battery units in the two phones, but the Galaxy S7 has a better 3000mAh unit as compared to the 1715mAh used on the 6S.
When it comes to storage options, Samsung offers a 32GB variant. There was talk of a 64GB variant coming into play, but this has not materialized so far. As for the iPhone 6S, you get a base model of 16GB and two more variants of 64GB and 128GB. As usual, there is no microSD card on the 6S, but the Galaxy S7 can accommodate up to 200GB of expandable storage.
Camera, special features, and price
Samsung reduced the megapixel count in this year’s Galaxy S7 from 16MP used on last year’s Galaxy S6 to 12MP. However, there is the addition of DualPixel technology as well as vast improvements as far as optimization and hardware are concerned. The result of this is great, detailed shots even when in the dark.
The iPhone 6S packs the same 12MP snapper on the rear, but you will miss OIS on the iSight sensor used on the phone. This feature is available on the S7, which adds to the fact that 6S’ camera specs seem to be trumped on paper. There are rumors that Apple wants to up the game with the upcoming iPhone 7 by including a dual-camera setup with OIS on board.
As for the specials that you find on each device, you might want to go with the Galaxy S7. However, this will depend on whether VR is your thing or not. Samsung Galaxy S7 is compatible with a $100 Gear VR headset made by Samsung and Oculus. This will give you a deserved experience into the VR world with the likes of NextVR, but you still won’t be able to get the nifty 3D Touch experience you get from pressing the screen of the 6S.
The two phones are not very far apart when it comes to pricing. While Samsung Galaxy S7 is valued at about $670, the iPhone 6S will set you back $650 for the base model.